Sunday, April 28, 2013

I did a pretty good job starting out this Kids Clothes Week - I made a blazer, two Skater Dresses...then, I stalled. I did work 55 hours this week, so that's my excuse....

I had planned a couple of dresses to go with the screaming green blazer I made earlier this week, but lost my motivation. Then, yesterday, while I was driving home from my second overtime day of work this week, I had a thought....

I wanted to use my applique skills and make a simple dress.....but what? I searched sewing blogs, Pinterest, Flickr.....everything cute had been done - even over-done....elephants? hedgehogs? bunnies? puppies? kitties? All done.

Then, it occurred to me that the much aligned skunk needed a shout out. Really, what a beautiful, albeit stinky, creature. I love black and white, in fact, most of my wardrobe is black and white. They have beautiful faces, beautiful fur. But, yet, they can be stinky. Well, kind of like my kid.

So, I picked some turquoise linen from my shop, and some scraps of black and white linen, and had at it. I used the Kate's Dress pattern from Lily Bird Studio. A simple A-line dress. I didn't add any of the details, but was more than pleased with the result....

Ignore the dog slobber on the dress....when we were out for our walk, we met a huge slobber-dog and Julia just had to go give him a kiss....

As you can see, my applique is not perfect, but it's a skill that I haven't used in a while, so I'm pleased with the result....and, I'm going to practice more....

So, Kids Clothes Week is over for this season. I consider it a success, even if I didn't get everything done I had planned!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

When I saw a pattern designed by Amanda of Kitschy Coo, I knew it would work for my kid.

Number one, it's a dress. No pants for my kid. No shorts for my kid. All dresses, all the time.

Number two, you can make it sleeveless.

Number three, it twirls.

I made two dresses in two sewing sessions, Tuesday and Wednesday after work. Tuesday I sewed the skirt to the bodices, and Wednesday, I attached all the ribbing. Although I looked through the directions, and saw that there were very thoughtful instructions for sewing with knit, and attaching the ribbing, I totally ignored all that and didn't refer to the directions once.

I made a size 3/4. Perfect fit. I used a yard each of some Robert Kaufman knit I got on sale for about $5/yard. So, two dresses that she likes for $10. I used two different types of rib and determined that the dress looks better with a rib that has more spandex and is less cotton-y.

Really, a couple of totally easy to put together, well fitting dresses. I'll be making this one again too!

I used a pattern from Blank Slate Patterns - the Basic Blazer. It's a boy's pattern, but no reason that a girl can't wear it - I would! The sizing goes from 18 months to 8 (how cute would a 18 month size blazer be?!) so the pattern is well worth it. I never made a pattern from this site before, but after making this blazer, certainly would buy another....

The fabric is corduroy, made by Westminster/Free Spirit from my shop. The color is really like the photo above - the color is a bit off in the modeled photos. The chevron is Riley Blake, also from my shop. This is a size 3T on my 3 year old...

I was really pleased with how this went together. The instructions were great. I tried to girly it up a bit and added a faux belt thing in the back, and the wrist strap thingys....

If/when I make this again, I would maybe put some interfacing in the front facing area and collar. I didn't think about it at the time, but in the photos, the front looks a bit floppy for my liking. The corduroy is very soft, so maybe if it was made in denim, or another stiffer fabric, it may lie better. But, overall, I really, really liked the pattern. It will definitely go in my pattern rotation....

Thursday, April 11, 2013

I got an opportunity to test out a really cute pattern for Wink Designs. She has a shop on Etsy with a good selection of really well thought out patterns.

This pattern is called the "Little Ellie" dress. There's no buttons, no zipper. Really, how easy can that be! The round yoke collar is put together very creatively - with great instructions - so all your edges end up finished inside.

I used a chevron from Robert Kaufman that I had been hoarding for exactly the right project. In fact, I had no idea what to do with this fabric until this pattern. I used linen for the collar and hem.

While constructing the dress, I was certain that I had cut the wrong size, that the collar would never fit over her head. In fact, I was halfway through, and I seriously considered picking out the whole thing and starting over. Well, yeah, no reason for that. It fit fine. Goes over her head without a tug. I guess I overestimated the size of my kid's head....

A very cute dress....easy to make and I'm sure we will get a ton of use out of this in the warmer summer months.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

I just completed my third Geranium. So, how many is too many? The pattern has been out how long - a couple of months?

I made my first one from Aneela Hoey's Posy line...

I made the second one from some black and white seersucker - and added an applique...

For my third, and maybe final, I used some red and white polka dot fabric from Robert Kaufman that has been in my stash for at least 10 years. I made this in the tunic length, with the pleated front. I added a sunflower embroidery on the front. I don't know - are the pre-school fashion police going to notice that she has three dresses out of the same pattern???

For the seersucker one and the polka dot ones, I doubled up the sleeves rather than use a single layer of fabric and zigzagging the edges...I used a contrast fabric on the tunic, and I like the way it looks.

I really, really like the tunic length - my plan is to make some natural linen shorts for the summer to go with this....how cute will that be?

My child was not really in the mood to model, so I bribed her with some chocolate morsels - yes, I did! - and these are the photos I got....

I may have to give this pattern a rest for the remainder of the season, but I just realized that I hadn't made the cap sleeve version....or the notch version.....so, maybe just one more....

And, the reason that I've made all these is that the extraordinarily picky child actually wears them!